(500) Days of Beca
by WoahJennifer
Summary: This is not a love story. This is a story about love. (Based on the film) (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is heavily based on the film (500) Days Of Summer so if you haven't seen it, you might be a bit confused but I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. I may or may not have messed up the tenses in some parts so I apologize in advance for that. The parts in italics are either the narrator talking, things that are happening on Beca's POV or flashbacks but mainly flashbacks. This is set in Chloe's POV. I will be updating everyday. :)**

**(478)**

Chloe looked down to see Beca's hand covering hers. The redhead noticed the engagement ring, shining on the DJ's finger. They sat in silence, enjoying each other's company, wishing it would last forever, although they both know it won't.

_This is a story of girl meets DJ. The girl, Chloe Beale of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that she'd never truly be happy until the day she met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total misreading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The DJ, Beca Mitchell of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only love two things. The first was her music. The second was how easily she could listen to it and forget about everything. Chloe meets Beca on January 8th. Chloe knows almost immediately that she is who she has been searching for. This is a story of girl meets DJ, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story._

**(290)**

Chloe lifted up another plate and smashed it onto the counter, shattering it into pieces that sprayed across the kitchen tiles.

"Chloe."

The redhead froze.

"Josh? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help you."

"Help me how?"

"First, put down the plate."

Chloe slowly obliged.

"Now sit down."

Chloe sat herself next to her 12 year old brother. Her roommates, Aubrey and Stacie sat on either side of them.

"Drink this." Josh handed her the glass.

Chloe gulped down the liquid, grimacing at the taste.

"What is that?"

"Vodka."

"Does Mom know you're here? It's gotta be past 10."

"Don't worry about it. Start from the beginning. Tell us what happened."

Chloe takes a deep breath.

"Things were going so well."

The redhead explained everything. The holding hands in IKEA . The countless movies they had watched together. The trip to the record shop. The kissing.

"Then what happened?" Josh asked, snapping Chloe out of her trance.

_"I think we should stop seeing each other." Beca stated as they sat down to order their pancakes._

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Chloe confirmed.

"Did she say why?"

_"I mean, this thing, what are we doing? I mean is this normal?" Beca said, motioning between the two._

_"Norm-I-I don't know and I don't care, I'm happy, aren't you happy?"_

_"You're happy?" The brunette asked with sincere shock._

_"You're not?"_

_"Well all we do is argue."_

_"That is bullshit." _

"You know maybe she was just in a bad mood," Aubrey said."Maybe like a hormonal thing."

"PMS?" Josh replied, nodding in agreement.

"What do you know about PMS?"

"I'm not 5, Chloe."

"Then what happened?" Stacie butted in.

_"This can't come as a total surprise to you I mean we've been like Sid and Nancy for months now-"_

_"Beca, Sid stabbed Nancy...seven times with a kitchen knife. I mean, w-y-we've had some disagreements but I hardly think I'm Sid Vicious."_

_"No, I'm Sid." Beca stated._

_"Oh, so I'm Nancy?" _

_The waitress placed two plates of pancakes in front of the pair._

_"Let's just eat...and we'll take about it later," Beca cut a slice from her pancake and placed it in her mouth."Mmm, this is good, I'm really glad we did this."_

_Chloe just stared at the brunette for a moment. Her face blank of any emotion. _

_"I just love these pancakes." The smaller woman added like the previous conversation hadn't just happened._

_Beca looked up from her food._

_"What?" she asked._

_Chloe got up from the booth and started to walk away._

_"Chloe, don't go, you're still my best friend." _

"Jesus...I'm going to kill her." Aubrey sighed.

"You've broken up with girls before," The redhead nodded in agreement. "And girls have broken up with you befo-."

"This is different." Chloe quickly interrupted.

"Why?" Josh questioned.

"B-because it's Beca."

"So you'll meet somebody new," Aubrey said, placing her hand on Chloe's knee. "Point is, you're the best girl I know and you can get over her."

"It's kinda like how they say, _there's plenty more fish in the sea._" Stacie added.

"Nope."

"Yeah...they say that."

"Well they're lying," Chloe stated. "I don't want to get over her. I want to get her back."

**(1)**

Chloe sat herself down at the long rectangular conference table where they usually hold most of the week's meetings. Most of these meetings were particularly boring. The redhead listened to Aubrey babble on about her new greeting card idea.

"And so I present to you, May 21st, Other Mothers Day." Everyone traded glances around the table. Aubrey proudly smiled and sat back down in her chair.

"You know what? I say we've got some potential here." The man at the end of the table said, that man happened to be Chloe's boss. "What do you think, Beale? Would you write up some proto-types for me?"

And that's when she saw her.

"You've got a call on line one."

"Oh thank you," Chloe's boss, or Hank, stood up. "Everybody, this is Beca, my new assistant. Beca just moved here from..."

"Michigan."

"Right, Michigan. Right uh-Beca, everyone," Hank said, motioning to the table full of people, then back at Beca. "Everyone, Beca. Well 'scuse me, I have to take this."

Hank walked out the room, leaving Beca awkwardly standing there.

"Well it's nice to meet you all." Beca said, looking directly at Chloe.

_There's only two kinds of people in the world. There's men and there's women. Beca Mitchell was a woman. Weight; average. Shoe size; average. Height; below average. For all intents and purposes, Beca Mitchell was just another girl. Except she wasn't. In 1998 Beca quoted a song from the Scottish band, Belle and Sebastian, in her High School year book 'Color my life with the chaos of trouble.' This spike in Michigan sales of their album 'The Boy With The Arab Strap' continues to puzzle industry analysts. Beca's employment as a DJ at 'The Lounge' in her Sophomore year coincided an explicable 212% increase in revenue. Every apartment Beca rented was offered at an average rate of 9.2% below market value. And her around trip commute to work averaged 18.4 double takes per day. It was a rare quality that Beca held. Rare and yet something that nearly every post-adolescent male or female had encountered at least once in their lives. For Chloe Beale to find it now in a city of 400,000 offices, 91,000 commercial buildings and 3.8 million people, well that could only be explained by one thing._

_**Fate.**_

**(3)**

"Dude, I hear she's a bitch." Aubrey whispered to Chloe, who was sitting at the desk opposite hers.

"Really?" The redhead asked.

"I heard Patel tried to talk to her in the copy room, she's totally not having it."

"Maybe she was just in a hurry." Chloe was quick to defend.

"And maybe she's an uppity, better than everyone, superskank."

"...Damn." Chloe sighed.

"I know, she's pretty hot. Why is it that pretty girls think they can treat everyone like crap and get away with it." Luke said from the desk vertical of Chloe's before walking to the copy room.

"You know what? Screw her," The redhead moved her hand in a flicking motion. "I don't care, if she wants to be that way, fine."

**(4)**

_Ding!_

The elevator doors opened and Chloe stepped inside, pressing the floor number on the pad. She had her headphones on and her music turned up pretty loud. Chloe put her iPod into her jacket pocket and stood patiently. The doors were about to close when Beca ran through them, just in time. The elevator started going upwards.

"The Smiths?" Beca questioned when she heard the first beats of _There Is A Light That Never Goes Out_ escape the cups of Chloe's earphones.

"Hi." The redhead waved, her music too loud to actually hear what Beca had just said.

"I love The Smiths." The brunette said a little louder.

Chloe pulled off her headphones and rested them on her neck.

"I said I love The Smiths," The redhead's mouth was slightly agape. "You have good taste in music."

"You like The Smiths?"

"_...to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die..." _Beca sang, swaying her head from side to side. "I love 'em."

_Ding!_

The elevator doors opened and the brunette walked out, leaving Chloe standing there in total disbelief of what just happened.

"Holy shit."

**(8)**

Chloe walked up the to the second floor of the office which acted as a balcony of sorts that overlooked the room. Millie, a worker, was celebratingher engagement and all of the office were invited. The redhead handed out drinks to a few passersby before spotting Beca leaning against the railing.

"Beca, right?" Chloe said.

"Smiths fan." Beca replied, pointing at Chloe.

"Chloe. Want some uh-it's not champagne, I don't know what it is." The redhead handed the glass to Beca.

"Sure."

_Well this is aca-awkward. _Chloe though to herself.

"So how's it going?" Chloe asked.

"Pretty good."

"You just moved here?"

"Mhmm."

"When?"

"Saturday."

"Oh, wow. So what brought you here?"

Beca looked around for a second, trying to find an answer.

"Boredom mostly. I wanted to try something new and exciting."

"Well clearly you've come to the right place." Chloe said making the brunette giggle.

The two made their way down the stairs to the main floor.

"So how long have you been working here?"

"Oh, you know, 4 or 5 years..."

"Really? Jesus. Did you always want to write greeting cards?"

"Are you crazy? I don't even want to do it now."

"What is it you want to do?"

"I actually studied to be an architect."

"That's so cool! What happened?"

"I moved to the city to work for a company. Company went under. Needed a job. My friend worked here. Got me this."

"And are you any good?"

Chloe picked up a freshly printed card from her desk.

"Well I wrote this one." She said, handing it to Beca.

"_Today you're a man. Mazel Tov on your Bar Mitzvah._" The brunette read aloud.

"It's a big seller." Chloe smiled proudly.

"I meant, are you good as an architect?"

"Oh...no. I doubt it."

"Well, I'd say you're a perfectly adequate greeting card writer."

"Why thank you. That's what they called me in college. 'Perfectly adequate' Beale."

"They used to call me 'Anal Girl.'"

Chloe spat out her drink and nearly choked. She quickly recovered herself and wiped the spray of liquid from around her mouth.

"I was very neat and organized." Beca explained.

They stood there for a few moments in silence.

"Anyway I should get back." Beca started to walk back to her desk.

"Ok, well, I'll see you around."

Chloe sat down at her desk and pulled out a piece of paper. She started drawing the outline for a skyline of buildings. With a sigh and a shaking of the head, the redhead crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it into the trash can.

**(154)**

Chloe and Aubrey walked down the sidewalk, having just gotten coffee.

"I don't know, I think it's official. I'm in love with Beca," Chloe said, grinding to a halt.

"I love her little smirk."

"I love her sarcasm."

"I love her ear spikes."

"I love this flowery tattoo on her shoulder." She said, pointing to the exact spot.

"I love how she only gets Taco Bell at midnight."

"I love the look on her face when she's concentrating."

"I love the way she looks when she's sleeping."

"I love how I hear Titanium every time I think about her."

"I love how she makes me feel, like anything's possible. Like, I don't know, like life is worth it?"

Aubrey opened her mouth to say something but slowly closed it.

"This is not good." Was all she could muster up.

**(11)**

"And it turns out she's read all _3_ books in The Hunger Games trilogy," Chloe exclaimed, swinging her Wii remote at the TV screen, "And we talked about ladybirds for like 20 minutes, we're so compatible it's insane. She's not like I thought at all, she's amazing."

"Oh boy." Josh sighed.

"What?"

"Just 'cus some cute girl likes the same bazzaro crap you do doesn't make her your soul mate, Chloe."

The redhead turned to face her younger brother, having just lost the game of tennis they were playing.

_Maybe he's right._


	2. Chapter 2

**(22)**

"It's off." Chloe said, resting her knee against the table.

"What?" Aubrey looked up at the redhead.

"Me and Beca."

"Was it ever on?" Stacie interrupted.

"No but it could've been, in a world where good things happen to me."

"Yeah well that's not really where we live."

Stacie let out a sigh of defeat when she lost, yet another round, on the games table.

"So what happened?" She asked after taking a sip of her coffee.

"You ready? So there we are, just 9 more floors to ride, just me and her..."

_"Hey Beca."_

_"Hi." _

_"How was your weekend?" _

_"It was good." The brunette emphasized with a wide smile._

"Can you believe that shit?" Chloe leaned forward and resting her arms on the table.

Aubrey and Stacie glanced at each other.

"I'm sorry, what shit?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah I think I missed something." They both nodded in agreement.

"She said it was _good_, emphasis on the good. She basically said she spent the weekend having sex with some stranger she met at the gym. Skank, whatever. I'm over it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"She's not interested in me, there's really nothing I can do about that."

"Just because she said it was _good_?" Aubrey questioned.

"And some other things."

"Did she say _hey_ instead of _hi_ because I heard that means she's straight."

"I mean I gave her plenty of chances."

_Beca came walking over to Chloe's desk._

_"I'm going to the supply room, do you guys need anything?" The brunette asked._

_"I think you know what I need." Chloe said with a wink._

_Beca cocked her eyebrow, her eyes searching around for some kind of answer. She obviously hadn't picked up the redhead's chat-up line. They both just stared at each other for a while. _

_"Uh-toner." Chloe said, motioning to her printer, trying to stop the blush from showing on her cheeks._

_"Okay, sure, no problem." _

_The brunette walked away into the supply room. Chloe heard muffled giggles coming from Aubrey's desk but focused on her computer._

_That evening, when everyone was about to go home, the redhead brought up her Smiths album in iTunes. After observing, not stalking, Beca's route of departure at the end of each day, she realized that the brunette passed her on her way to the elevator. When she saw Beca grabbing her bag and coat in order to leave, she double clicked on her favorite song. _

_Good times for a change__  
__See, the luck I've had__  
__Can make a good man__  
__Turn bad_

_At this point, Beca had started walking away from her desk and towards Chloe. The redhead slowly turned up the volume._

_So please please please__  
__Let me, let me, let me__  
__Let me get what I want__  
__This time_

_And she walked straight past her. Not even a glance in her direction. Not even a smile. Nothing. Chloe sighed and closed down her computer. _

"Whatever, it's fine, I don't need this crap really. I just really-you know-I'm comfortable, un-hassled. People don't realize this but loneliness...it's underrated. " Chloe lied, fidgeting in her chair.

"You could just ask her out?" Stacie suggested.

"Don't be stupid."

**(27)**

Chloe was sitting at her desk with her headphones, trying to figure out what font to use on her new design for Easter. She saw Aubrey sit down at her desk but took no notice.

"Hey-" The blonde started clicking her fingers in front of Chloe and motioning to take her headphones off. The redhead noticed and pulled her headphones around her neck. "This Friday all you can karaoke at The Mill."

"No." Chloe said firmly.

"Come on!"

"They're not going to let you back in there after last time."

"Eh, I wasn't that bad."

"Babe, you threw up on the stage, tried to fight the bartender and you threatened to burn the place down-"

"But I didn't burn the place down."

"We're not going back there, Bre."

"Look it's not like that, okay, it's a work thing. The whole office is goi-"

"Just say I can't go, I'm sick." Chloe faked a cough.

"You're not listening to me!"

"What?"

"The. Whole. Office. Is. Going."

The redhead shifted her gaze towards Beca and felt a smile tugging at her lips.

**(28)**

Chloe walked into the dingy karaoke bar and immediately spotted Beca leaning against the wall.

"Hi." Chloe shouted over the applause that had just broken out due to some guy finishing his performance.

"Hi," Beca said, smiling. "Aubrey said you weren't coming."

"You asked if I was-"

"Hey Beale!" Aubrey pulled her into a tight embrace. She could already smell the alcohol on her best friend.

"Beca, is there a Beca?" The man on the stage announced.

"That's me." The brunette downed her shot and ran onto the stage. She then adjusted the microphone stand, which was too high for her. "Okay, I'm new so no makin' fun of me."

Aubrey ordered 2 beers from the bar and handed one to Chloe as she admired how beautiful the brunette looked underneath the spotlight.

"Cheers." The two clinked their beers together and turned to face the stage.

_I got some troubles but they won't last__  
__I'm gonna lay right down here in the grass__  
__And pretty soon all my troubles will pass__  
__'Cause I'm in shoo-shoo-shoo, shoo-shoo-shoo__  
__Shoo-shoo, shoo-shoo, shoo-shoo Sugar Town_

* * *

Chloe made her way to the bar and grabbed two beers. She took the drinks back the booth her and Aubrey were currently sharing when she saw Beca was seated there too.

"I didn't know you were joining us, I would've gotten you a drink." The redhead said, sitting down next to Aubrey.

"I'm good." The brunette held up her drink before taking a sip.

"You were great up-uh singing."

"Thank you. I wanted to sing _Born To Run_ but they didn't have it."

"I love _Born To Run_!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Tom's from New Jersey." Aubrey slurred.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I-uh, grew up there, lived there until I was 12."

"I named my cat after Springsteen."

"No kidding? What's his name?"

"Bruce."

"That makes sense."

_Idiot, Chloe, idiot. _She thought to herself.

"So have you got a girlfriend?" The blonde interrupted.

"Me? No."

"Why not?"

"Don't really want one."

"Come on. I don't believe that."

"You don't believe a woman could enjoy being free and independent?"

"Are you straight?" Aubrey questioned.

"No, I'm not straight. I'm just not comfortable being somebody's 'girlfriend.' I don't want to be anybody's anything, you know?" Beca sipped her drink.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It sounds selfish, I know, but I just like being on my own. Relationships are messy and feelings are always getting hurt. Who needs that? We're young. We're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I say, let's have as much fun as we can afford and leave the serious shit for later."

"Holy shit, you're a dude, she's a dude." The blonde shouted.

"But what if you meet someone and fall in love?" Chloe replied.

"Love? You seriously believe in that?"

"It's love, not Santa Clause, hold on, you _don't_ believe in love?" Chloe asked.

"I don't even know what that word means. I know I've never felt it, whatever it is in all those songs and movies. And I know that today most marriages end in divorce. Like my parents."

"Well mine too but-"

"Oh yeah, and I read in Newsweek, there were these scientists who found that by stimulating a part of the brain with electrodes you can make a person fall in 'love' with a rock. There's no such thing as love, it's fantasy."

"Well, I think you're wrong." The redhead sighed.

"Ok. Looks like we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that one."

"So who's singing next?" The blonde asked loudly.

"I nominate young Beale here." Beca said, pointing at the redhead.

"I'm not nearly drunk enough to sing in front of all these people-"

"Bartender!"

* * *

Chloe wobbled up onto the stage and steadied herself on the microphone stand. There were a few cheers and whistles from around the room as the music started.

_Outside there's a box car waiting__  
__Outside the family stew ew ew ew__  
__Outside the fire breathing__  
__Outside we wait 'til face turns blue_

Half way through the song, the alcohol had really taken affect and Chloe had resulted in doing weird moves with the microphone.

_I know the nervous walking__  
__I know the dirty beard hang hang hangs__  
__Out by the box car waiting__  
__Take me away to nowhere plains__  
__There is a wait so long (so long, so long)__  
__You'll never wait so long..._

"You're good!" Beca shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

_Here comes your man__  
__Here comes your man__  
__Here comes your man an an__  
__Here comes your man_

* * *

"Dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun." Beca hummed.

"No." Chloe said between laughs.

"What is that then?"

"That, that's something."

"I know!"

"Yeah, I watch it every week."

"Yeah, best show on TV."

"And the theme song is really good."

"So good."

"This is going to bother me for a week."

"Me too."

"_And I'm proud to be an American, at least I know that I'm free..._" Chloe turned to see Aubrey up on stage, saying she was singing would be an overstatement. Screeching? More like it.

After Aubrey had finished her little performance, Chloe and Beca helped her out onto the street.

"You are amazing." Aubrey slurred.

"I know." Chloe replied, helping the blonde keep steady as they walked to the taxi.

"You're amazing," Aubrey exclaimed, pointing to Beca. "This was so much fun, you guys are so much fun. Wait! Hey! Hey! Not you," Aubrey said, pointing at Chloe then to Beca. "You. She likes you."

"Okay, that's enough for tonight." The redhead hissed, trying to push Aubrey down into the taxi.

"Why don't you just tell her Chloe?" Aubrey shouted before the car door was slammed in her face.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. Happens every time we come here. Something about her and this place, you know."

"Is that true?" Beca asked softly.

"Yeah yeah, she drinks and sings and just looses-"

"No, uh, not Aubrey. Um, the other thing?"

"What thing?"

"Do you...like me?"

"Yeah, yeah of course I like you."

"As friends?"

"Right, as friends." Chloe confirmed.

"Just as friends?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it," Lies. Chloe had spent lots of time thinking about it. "Yes, why?"

"No reason, I just, I think you're interesting and I'd like for us to be friends." They both stared at each other for a moment. "Is that alright?"

"Uh-yeah. That's um, yeah. You and me. We should be friends."

"Okay. Good. Well I'm that way, so," Beca motioned over her shoulder.

"Well, okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight." The brunette saluted Chloe and began to walk away.

"Friends. Awesome. That's just great. Well done Beale, you idiot." She murmured under her breath.

**(31)**

Chloe stood waiting for her copies to finish. She had about 36 more to go. She was just replacing the paper in the machine when Beca walked in and started using the machine next to her.

"Hey." Beca greeted with a smile.

"Hi."

They both shut down the copier lids at the same time and jabbed a few buttons. They stood in silence for a few minutes, occasionally glancing sideways at each other.

"So that was fun, the other night-" The redhead was interrupted by Beca's lips on hers. The brunette stood on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck. Chloe snaked her arms around Beca's back and pulled each other as close as possible. The kiss heated up and the taller woman let her hands slide down to Beca's waist. A beep signalling that the brunette's copies were done, pulled them apart. Chloe whimpered slightly at the loss of contact as Beca collected her copies and walked out of the room.

* * *

Chloe heard knocking at the door and quickly opened it to see Stacie standing on the other side.

"You son of a bitch." The brunette shouted, pushing past Chloe and into her apartment.

"Shh-"

"The same girl you've been obsessing over for weeks?"

"Not been obsessing."

"So the girl you said was way out of your league and would never have a chance with in a million years?"

"Stacie, seriously..."

"Did you bang her?"

"No."

"What? Did you motorboat her?"

"No."

"Did she sit on your fac-"

"Stacie, no. We, we kissed."

"Level with me here, come on. As your second best friend who tolerated you whining about this girl for weeks on end. You were essentially stalking her."

"Stacie, shh."

The redhead's bedroom door clicked open and Beca stood in the doorway.

"Hi."

"Heeey." Stacie greeted, sending a small wave to the brunette.

"I'm Beca."

"I'm Stacie."

"Hey Stacie." Beca held her hand out and Stacie shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Well I gotta go, I gotta do some uh-you know..."

"Yeah, catch you later." Chloe replied.

"Just pretend I was never here. Oh wait Chloe, Chloe, Chloe, um if any _boats _come up, be sure to let me kn-"

"Thanks Stacie, see ya!" The redhead shouted before pushing her through the door and locking it after her. "She's uh an old friend." Beca wiggled her eyebrows at Chloe and giggled. "If you heard any of um..."

"Heard what?"

"Nothing, you wanna go?"

"Yeah, I'm _stalking_, I mean I'm starving."

Chloe made a mental note to kick Stacie's ass when she next saw her.


	3. Chapter 3

**(282)**

The pair had taken a second trip to IKEA and they were currently standing in the bathroom section resulting in Chloe trying to play house with Beca...again.

"Uh, hun? Our sink is broken." The redhead said in a deep voice after turning the handle of a sink. Getting no reply, she turned around to find a very bored Beca looking at the price tag of toaster. Chloe tried turning all the sink handles. "And _all _of our sinks are broken." Beca turned around to look at Chloe before walking away.

**(34)**

"What are we looking for again?" Chloe asked as they entered the doors of IKEA.

"Uh a desk lamp."

"How about a flug?"

"Hah, no, not a flug."

After a few minutes of wondering around, Chloe was getting restless and decided a little fun was in order and playing house was definitely the way to do it.

"Home, sweet home." The redhead exclaimed, sinking into a sofa and resting her feet up on the coffee table. Beca followed suit, catching onto the hint.

"Our place is really _lovely_, isn't it?"

"Yes-"

"Ooo! Idles on." Beca picked up the TV control and tapped the power button. When the TV didn't turn on, she pressed it several more times. "TV's not working." She said with a pout.

"Well, I'm _famished_, let's eat."

Chloe ran to the kitchen section and sat down at the table. She picked up her knife and fork, slamming them on the table.

"Mmm, smells delicious."

"Oh, honey, that's because it is delicious!" Beca opened the oven and pulled out a pretend tray and placing it in front of Chloe. "I made it myself."

"Oh my favourite!" The redhead shrieked.

Beca giggled and walked over to the sink, attempting to turn it on even though she knew no water would come out. She placed her hands on her hips and jutted out a knee.

"Our sink's broken." The pair tried to suppress the laughter that was building up inside of them.

"Well that's okay cus," Chloe swiftly moved through the archway into another model kitchen. "We bought a house with _two_ kitchens."

The brunette flung herself at Chloe, pushing their bodies flush together and bringing their faces centimetres apart.

"You're so smart. I'll race you to the bedroom." Beca whispered into Chloe's ear.

Chloe chased her around IKEA, accumulating their fair share of dirty looks but took no notice. They eventually came to the bedroom section. Beca dived onto the bed and tried to capture her breath. The redhead quickly followed and seductively crawled up the brunette.

"Darling," Chloe hushed her voice so it was barely a whisper. "I don't know how to tell you this but there's a Chinese family in our bathroom."

They both turned their heads to see a family of five staring at them in the door way. The pair smiled and watched as the family dispersed, leaving Beca and Chloe alone.

"This is fun," The brunette commented, rolling over so they were facing each other. "You're fun."

"Thanks." Beca grabbed hold of Chloe's collar and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Hey, um, I just wanted to tell you, um, I'm not really looking for anything...serious. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, yeah that's fine." Chloe quickly replied.

"Good because sometimes people freak out when they hear that."

"No, uh, not me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, like casual. Take it slow."

"No pressure."

They stared at each other for a while before Beca got up from the bed and motioned for Chloe to follow. They made their way to the lighting department when the redhead felt Beca's hand slip into hers and squeeze it. That, on its own, made Chloe's heart jump out of her chest.

xxx

Chloe and Beca fell down onto the bed, franticly kissing each other. The redhead slid her hands down to Beca's waist and started rubbing small circles on her hip bone.

"Can you hold on a second?" Chloe husked into Beca's ear. The brunette nodded and Chloe made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror.

"Ok, so she's just a girl, just a girl. She wants to keep it casual...which is why she's in my bed right now but that's casual, it's what casual people do. It's fine, it's alright." She whispered to herself. There was a small noise coming from the bedroom and the redhead slowly opened the door to see what it was. That's when she saw Beca lying on the bed, naked.

"Hi." Chloe squeaked.

_Damnit Beale._ She thought to herself. _Hi? Is that the best you can come up with?!_

"Hi." Beca replied with a confident smirk.

Chloe just stared at the brunette for a moment.

"Are you just going to stare or are you going to come over here?"

The redhead walked over to the bed. Beca grabbed her by the collar pulled her down on top of her.

_Oh. My. God._ Chloe screamed internally.

xxx

Chloe walked out of the door and onto the street with a smile plastered on her face. She looked up to see everyone smiling at her, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, nothing could be better. She continued walking to work with a bounce in her step and a smile stretching from ear to ear. She walked through the gates of the office and stepped into the elevator, jabbing the up button. This was her day and nothing was going to bring her down.

**(303)**

The redhead sighed as she walked through the elevator and into the lobby. Her hair was messy and the bags under her eyes were beginning to deepen. She sat down at her desk and stared over to were Beca's old desk was, of which was now filled with Hank's _new_ assistant.

"So did you get her back yet or what?" Aubrey asked with a smile.

"Working on it." Aubrey's smile disappeared and she swallowed hard.

"Maybe you should write a book, you know, Henry Miller said the best way to get over a woman is to turn her into literature."

"Well that guy had a lot more sex than me." Chloe was interrupted by a noise signalling an email. She opened up her inbox. "Oh! This is it!" She practically punched her mouse and opened up the email. It was from Beca.

_So great to hear from you. I can't this week but maybe next? I hope this means you're ready to be friends._

**(45)**

"_Dun dun du du du dun, du du du dun du doooo!_" Chloe listened as Beca sang into the phone. The brunette had finally figured out the theme tune that had been bugging the two for the past week.

"Yeah that's it." The redhead giggled into the phone.

"Your girl is losing it." Aubrey sighed and placed her headphones in her ears.

**(87)**

"Are you being serious?" Chloe asked.

"Dixie Chick serious."

"Are you joking around?"

"No I am not joking around!"

"Octopuses Garden?!"

"Yes," Beca walked up to the 'S' section in the record shop, Chloe following closely behind her. "Octopuses Garden is the best Beatles song ever made."

"I just don't get it."

"Come on, I love Ringo Starr."

"Nobody loves Ringo Starr." The redhead stated, flipping through the shelf of records.

"That's what I love about him."

Beca grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her towards a door with a sign reading "ADULTS ONLY".

"No, no, no, no." Chloe whined as the brunette pushed the door open and ventured inside.

xxx

Once they arrived back at Chloe's apartment, they settled down on the sofa and started watching their newly purchased "Sweet & Shower" DVD. Beca placed herself on Chloe's lap, entwining their hands before pressing play. They watched it for about 15 minutes before Beca pressed pause.

"That looks pretty...do-able." The brunette husked into Chloe's ear. Beca jumped up and pulled the redhead behind her into the bathroom.

xxx

"This is harder than it looks." Beca groaned, clinging onto a very naked but slippery Chloe as best as she could.

"And who's idea was it?"

"Ok, 3, 2, 1!" The brunette grabbed onto the shower railing with one hand and tried to hoist herself up onto Chloe. There was a loud snap and before they could do anything, the shower curtain fell down and they followed closely behind it.

"Next time I'm choosing the movie." Chloe said, giggling.

**(95)**

"Yeah the street level isn't so exciting but if you look up there," The redhead pointed to the top of a line of buildings as they walked down the street. Chloe stopped in front of a sandy coloured building. "The Fine Arts building, the guys who designed this, Walker and Eisen, two of my favourites. Isn't it cool?"

Beca nodded and linked their arms together.

xxx

Chloe sat down on the bench and motioned for the brunette to sit next to her.

"This is my favourite spot."

"This is..this is your favourite spot?" Beca asked, curious why this one bench, out of millions of benches, was so special to her.

"Right here." Chloe pointed to the view.

"How come?"

"Um, I don't know, it's kinda hard to explain I guess."

"Well try."

"Uh well ok, that building over there, that's been there since 1911. And that, that's the conference house, LA's first skyscraper, it was built in 1944." The redhead explained, pointing at individual buildings and saying a few facts about them.

"What's that?" Beca pointed to one of the tall buildings.

"That? That's a parking lot." Chloe let out a laugh. "There's a lot of beautiful stuff here too, I just wish people would notice it more. If it were me, I don't know-"

"If it were you, what?"

"I don't know, I'd like make them notice."

"How would you make them notice?" Beca asked, biting her lip.

"There's a lot of different stuff you could do-"

"Show me," The brunette pulled a black pen out of her bag and handed it to Chloe. "Please, I don't know anything about architecture."

"You want me to draw you something?"

"Yeah."

"I haven't got any paper."

"Well use my arm." Beca rolled up her sleeve and rested her forearm Chloe's thigh. "Besides, I need another tattoo."

Chloe started drawing the buildings on the brunette's arm.

"You could maximize the light capacity here." she said, drawing another line on Beca's exposed flesh.

After about 10 minutes of drawing, Chloe finished off her picture. She held Beca's arm up and compared it to what she was trying to copy. The redhead smiled to herself proudly.

**(109)**

Beca unlocked her apartment door and walked through.

"It's kinda messy so..."

"That's okay." Chloe said, closing the door behind her.

Beca's apartment was small but homely, the wallpaper was old and crisping at the edges but Chloe thought that added to the whole quirkiness of it. There were cardboard boxes scattered around the room and odd pieces of furniture dotted in peculiar places. The brunette had lots of framed artwork hanging on the walls and little knick-knacks here and there. Chloe walked over to a coffee table and picked up a framed picture of Ringo Starr, smiling, she put it back down and flopped down onto the bed next to Beca.

_For Chloe Beale, this was the night that everything changed. That wall that Beca quite often hid behind, the wall of distance, space, of casual. That wall was slowly coming down. For here was Chloe in her world, a place few had been invited to see in their own eyes and here was Beca, wanting her there, her, no one else._

"What do you hate?" Beca asked as they cuddled on the bed.

"Hmm, spiders and my teeth falling out."

"I feel you!"

"You do?"

"Yeah, it's weird."

"What else do you hate?" Chloe tucked a strand of loose brown hair behind Beca's ear.

"Earthquakes."

"Really?"

"No." Beca giggled.

"You know, I dream sometimes about falling. It starts out like I'm running really, really fast, like a super human, and then the terrain starts to get really rocky and steep and then I'm running so fast my feet aren't even touching the ground and I'm floating. And It's like this amazing feeling. I'm free. I'm safe. Then I realise I'm completely alone." Beca explained, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

_As she listened, Chloe began to realise that these weren't stories routinely told. These were stories one had to earn. She could feel the wall coming down. She wondered if anybody else had made it this far, which is why the next 6 words changed everything. _

"I've never told anybody that before." Beca said, turning to face Chloe.

"I guess I'm not just anybody."

xxx

"So what exactly are you?" Stacie took a bite of her baguette.

"I...don't know."

"Are you her girlfriend?"

"It's not that simple."

"Sure it is." Aubrey added, sitting down beside Stacie with a plate of cheesecake.

"We're adults, we know how we feel and we don't need to put labels on it. All that stuff is really juvenile."

"You sound straight, Chloe, I'm worried about you." Stacie said, taking another bite from her baguette.

"Okay, first of all your ex-boyfriend was Jesse Swanson in 7th grade. You dated for like 3 hours and _you_," The redhead pointed to Aubrey. "You've been with Benji for what? Like since 4th grade or something. I don't think the two of you are exactly authorities on modern relationships."


	4. Chapter 4

**(118)**

Chloe was watching Josh and his team play their weekly football tournament at the park. He was sitting out due to there being too many players which gave Chloe the perfect opportunity to ask him about Beca.

"So what should I do?" The redhead asked.

"You should ask her," Chloe sighed. "What's the big deal, sis, I mean what's the worst that could happen?"

"Why rock the boat, is what I'm thinking. Things are going ridiculously well, if we start putting labels on it...that's like the kiss of death, It's like saying _I love you_."

"I understand. That's what happened between me and Katie."

"Who's Katie?"

"My girlfriend before Olivia."

"Who the f-never mind. So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you should ask her. If it were me? I'd ask her now before someone better shows up."

"Josh, we need you back on." Coach said, blowing his whistle.

"No, Coach, we're not done yet-"

"Look it's easy, Chlo, just don't be a pussy." He stated before running onto the field.

xxx

Chloe had just picked up Beca and were now on their way to get some lunch. The redhead let out a heavy sigh, turning down the radio.

"Are you ok?" Beca asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"You sure?"

"Beca I gotta ask you something," The redhead said, fidgeting in her eat. "What are we um-what are we doing?"

"I thought we were getting lunch?"

"No I mean like are we like-what's going on here, with us?"

"I don't know," The brunette smiled and turned to face Chloe. "Who cares? I'm happy, aren't you happy?"

"Yeah I'm happy."

"Good." Beca and Chloe spent the rest of the drive in silence, occasionally turning to smile at each other.

**(259)**

"London 1964, that's when guys knew how to dress, these days it's all baggy pants and piercings. I mean, who ok'd this?" Chloe sighed.

"Some people like it." Beca said.

"I like how you dress."

"I was thinking about getting a nose piercing."

"No." Chloe stated firmly. The brunette laughed. "Oh..."

"Hey. How's it going?" A tall, blonde haired girl came up next to Beca.

"Uh, ok."

"You live aroun' here?" The blonde asked.

"Um yeah, not too far."

"Never seen you here before."

"You're not too observant." Beca implied, turning to look at Chloe who gave a weak smile back at her.

"Hah, that's funny. You're funny. So let me buy you a drink."

"No thank you."

"You with her?" The blonde asked, pointing at Chloe.

"Hey I'm Chloe."

"Whatever. So come on, one drink, what can I get-"

"I said no thanks." Beca was trying to keep her cool. In the corner of her eye, she could see the redhead getting more and more impatient by the second.

"Are you being serious? This girl?" The blonde motioned towards Chloe.

"Excuse me?" Chloe said, turning her attention towards the blonde.

"You know what, don't be rude, I'm flattered, but I'm not interested so why don't you go over there and leave us alone? Thanks." Beca said, turning away from the tall woman and taking a sip of her drink.

The blonde started walking back before turning around. "I can't believe this is your _girlfriend_." She said with a vicious laugh.

That was the final straw for Chloe. She jumped up from her stool and right-hooked the blonde in the jaw. She fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Beca spat. The last thing Chloe remembered the blonde approaching her and a loud cracking sound, then it all went back.

xxx

"It was really just a crazy thing." The redhead explained as they walked through the door of Beca's apartment. Chloe was holding a frozen bag of peas to her face that they had collected on the drive home. "It felt like it happened fast but it also felt like it was happening really slowly like everything all was just I don't know, it doesn't feel like you think it wou-hey, what's the matter."

"I just can't believe you." Beca spat.

"You can't believe me?"

"You were so completely, completely un-cool in there."

"Waaait, are you made at me? I just got my ass _kicked_ for you."

"Oh really? Was that for my benefit?"

"Yes it was."

"Ok well next time don't. I don't need your help. You know what, I'm really tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Chloe started walking towards the door when she threw the bag of peas to the ground.

"No, you know what , I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on."

"Nothing's going on." The brunette sighed. "We're just.."

"We're just what?"

"We're just frie-"

"No don't pull that with me. Don't even try. This is not how you treat your friend. Kissing in the copy room? Holding hands in IKEA? Shower sex? Come on, friends my balls." Chloe practically shouted. Beca sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed.

"I like you Chloe. I just don't want a relationsh-"

"Well you're not the only one who gets a say in this, I do too and I say we're a couple, dammit!" Chloe stormed out of Beca's apartment, wiping the tears that were slowly making their way down her face.

xxx

Chloe couldn't sleep, she was tossing and turning, hoping that Beca would call. She turned on her front and stared at the phone. The redhead picked it up and dialled Beca's number, her thumb hovering over the call button. With a sigh, she placed it back on the stand and flipped herself over so she was on her back. Just as Chloe was about to give up and fall asleep there was a loud knock at the door. She pulled on her dressing gown and unlocked the door.

"I shouldn't have done that." Beca whispered. She was still in her pyjamas and her dark brown hair was dripping with rain.

"Done what?"

"Gotten mad at you, I'm sorry."

"Look, we don't have to put a label on it, that's fine, I get it but I just need some consistency."

"I know."

"I need to know that you're not going to wake up in the morning and feel differently."

"I can't give you that, nobody can." Beca said, placing a short kiss on the redheads lips. "I like you and I'm sorry."

The brunette pushed Chloe up against the door and pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around the redhead's waist. Chloe slammed the door shut and carried Beca over to the bedroom.

xxx

"Have you ever even had a girlfriend?" The redhead said, propping her head up on her elbow.

"Of course."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about her."

"No." Beca whispered into Chloe's shoulder.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not important."

"I'm interested."

"Alright fine, if you want to go there..." The brunette sat up.

"Yeah, I can take it."

"Well in High School there was Molly..."

"Cheerleader and prom queen?"

"No, she was a rower. She was very hot. For a brief time in College there was Catherine. She was nice but we both wanted different things. Okay so for a semester I dated a guy called Fernando Belladelli, also know was _The Puma_."

"The Puma?"

"The Puma because, you know..." Beca explained, pointing down at her groin area.

"Oh..."

"Yep but that was a mistake. I guess my parents didn't approve of me being gay so I thought that if I dated a guy then maybe they'd, I don't know, accept me? Anyway that is a road I'm never going down again."

"So 3 relationships. Is that it?"

"The ones that lasted, yeah."

"What happened? Why didn't they work out?"

"What always happens. Life."

xxx

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Chloe deadpanned, sitting down on the bench.

"No it's not, it's awesome. Trust me. I'm serious. Okay, I'll go first."

"This is a bad idea."

"Penis." Beca nodded at the redhead.

"Penis." Chloe said, slightly louder than the brunette.

"Penis."

"Penis."

"Penis." Beca's voice was getting loud now.

"There's kids around."

"There are no kids around."

They continued, each time getting louder and louder.

"Is this the kinda thing you did with The Puma?" The redhead joked.

"Oh, no," Beca scrunched her nose. "We rarely left the bedroom."

"PENIS." Chloe shouted. "Sorry, turrets-" She explained to the group of women passing by.

"PENIS." Beca was on the near verge of screaming now.

"She has it too."

"**PENISSS-**" Chloe held a hand over the brunette's mouth.

"Shhh," The brunette tried to peel Chloe's hand from her mouth. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"This is too much." The redhead laughed.

"Release me." Chloe dropped her hand from around Beca's mouth.

"Promise?"

"I promise." The brunette smoothed down her hair. "**PEEENISSSS!**"

**(191)**

"It's very...complex." Chloe explained, staring at a framed picture of two dogs having sex.

"Uhu. It like says so much by saying so little."

They both shuffled to the next piece of work which was displayed in a glass case. They both stared at it for a while, trying to figure out why a pile of dog waste could be interpreted as art work.

"D'you wanna go to the movies?" Chloe whispered into the brunette's ear.

"Yep." Beca nodded.

After a short drive, they ended up in front of the movie theatre.

"What do you want to see?" The redhead asked as they walked to the ticket counter.

"_Vagiant_."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I! Look, part vampire, part giant. _Vagiant_." Beca explained, pointing to the poster.

"Oh..."

They both laughed pretty much the whole way through the film, occasionally stealing each other's popcorn and having one or maybe five make-out sessions, it was perfect.

**(314)**

Chloe was sitting alone in the theatre, watching some French film and trying to read the English subtitles before they disappeared.

_She is broken. _

_More than broken, she is alone._

_Now her only friend is grief. _

The sense of familiarity entered Chloe's mind. The redhead had obviously drifted off because the screen was now faded black with the word _Fin_ stretched across it. She rubbed her eyes and followed the crowd of people out of the exit.

**(321)**

"C-Chloe?" Chloe looked up to find Hank's new assistant standing there. "Mr Vance would like to see you in his office."

The redhead knocked on the already open door.

"Chloe, have a seat." She sat down. "Has something...happened to you recently?"

"What'd you mean?"

"A death in the family? Someone taken ill? Anything like that?"

"No, sir."

"I don't mean to pry but does this have anything to do with Beca leaving?"

"Who?"

"My assistant?"

"Your uhm?"

"Chloe, everyone knows." The redhead let out a sigh. "Never mind, the reason I'm asking is lately your work performance has been a little...off."

"I'm not following."

"Okay, um, here's something that you wrote last week," Hank picked up a card from the pile on his desk and started reading aloud. "_Roses are red, violets are blue...fuck you whore_. Now most shoppers at Valentine's Day don't-"

"Mr Vance, are you firing me?" Chloe asked, leaning forward.

"No, no, relax Beale. You're one of the good ones."

"Oh, good. I'm sorry, things have been a little rough."

"That's okay, I completely understand that. I'm just saying that perhaps you could channel those energies into something like this." Hank passed a pile of cards over the desk.

"Funerals and sympathy..." Chloe gave a fake smile.

"Misery. Sadness. Loss of faith. No reason to live. This is perfect for you."

"Uh-" She was at a loss for words.

"Good, okay. Now back to work you go."

"Thank you." Chloe said before getting up and walking back to her desk. On her way back, she stopped at Luke's desk. On it was a freshly printed card with the words _I LOVE US _written on it in swirly writing. She placed it down and continued walking.

**(167)**

"Hey." The redhead greeted Aubrey.

"Hey, don't you have like 20 cards to write by Friday?"

"Nope, all done."

"Really? Can you help me cus I've ran out of way to say congrats. Okay I got _Good Job_, _Well Done_ and _Way To Go_. That's it."

"How about..._Every day you make me proud but today you get a card_."

"Shit that's good. "

"I know."

Chloe walked over to the _RELIGION & HOLIDAYS _ section of the office and sat down at the table.

"Have you tried..._Merry_?" The redhead suggested after a 15 minute discussion about Christmas.

"That's it!" The head of the table said as everyone erupted into applause.

xxx

"We've been stuck on this for an hour." Millie exclaimed.

"Hmm, how about..." Chloe looked through the window and smiled at Beca who smiled back at her. "_I Love Us."_


	5. Chapter 5

**(322)**

"I hate Beca." The redhead groaned.

"I hate the cockroach shaped birthmark on her shoulder."

"I hate her ear monstrosities."

"I hate her meaningless tattoos."

"I hate how she cares more about her music than real people."

"I hate that she so much wears eyeliner."

xxx

Chloe's had just caught the bus and was now on her way into town to pick up some groceries so she could make dinner for her and Aubrey this afternoon. The first beats of _Titanium_ started coming from someone's phone.

"I HATE THAT SONG!" She shouts before the bus driver hit the breaks and sends everyone flying forward.

"Ma'am you're going to have to exit the vehicle." The driver said, opening the doors.

**(345)**

"I normally don't do blind dates but Stacie and Aubrey spoke very highly of you." The tall brunette said as they walked down the street.

"Oh, huh." Chloe put on her signature smile.

"They said you write greeting cards, that's so interesting! I wanted to write. I actually majored in English in College but what are you going to do with that degree? I went to Brown, where did you go?"

"Allison, listen it's great to meet you and you're a very attractive girl but I just wanted to say upfront that this isn't going to go anywhere."

"Oh."

Somehow they ended up in a stingy old bar across town and somehow Chloe was very drunk.

"I met this girl. I mean I loved her but what did she do? She took a giant shit on my face. Literally."

"Literally?" Allison asked as she awkwardly sat on the other side of the table, listening to Chloe babble on about Beca.

"Not literally, that's disgusting. Jesus, what's the matter with you?" The redhead sat up and took a big gulp of whiskey. "Point is I'm messed up. On one hand I want to forget her and on the other? I know that she's the only person in the entire universe that can make me happy. I think back on all the time we spent together, I replay it in my head over and over again. I try and look for those first signs of trouble. There's two options really either she's an evil, emotionless human being or she's a robot. That would explain a lot, actually."

"Can I ask you a question?" Allison interrupts.

"Yep."

"She never cheated on you?"

"No, never."

"Did she ever take advantage of you in any way?"

"...no."

"And she told you, up front, she didn't want a relationship?"

"Yeah." Chloe took another sip of her drink.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

"I have a great idea."

xxx

After a 20 minute cab journey, Chloe was now belting her heart out at the same karaoke bar she'd fallen in love with Beca at. Allison was slumped in one of the booths, sipping a cocktail and resting her head in her palm. Allison started to walk towards the exit but Chloe soon spotted her.

"Fine, go! Waste of time anyway." She slurred into the microphone.

**(402)**

Chloe jumped up onto the train just as it was about to leave. She was walking down the aisle, trying to find a seat, when she pulled out her phone and rang Stacie.

_"Hey babe."_

"Hey, you here?" The redhead asked, searching for her in the carriage. They were supposed to be attending Millie's wedding together and were meeting up on the train.

_"Hell no."_

"What do you mean hell no?"

_"I'm not going to that."_

"Yes you are."

_"No, it's going to be all old people."_

"Yeah but you said you were going, that's why I'm going."

_"Yes, so I called her last night and told her I was sick, like a ninja."_

"I'm not gonna know anybody at this thing."

_"Maybe you'll meet some hot Grandma's daughter or something."_

"I gotta go." Chloe slapped her phone shut and searched around for a seat. Unsuccessfully finding one, she opened the door to the next carriage and continued her search. That's when she saw her.

Beca.

Chloe quickly spotted an empty seat a few rows down from the brunette and sat down. She peered back to look at Beca of whom was looking directly at her. The redhead turned back around and took off her bag. She pulled out her book and started reading.

"Hi Chloe." Beca greeted with a smile.

"Heeey Beca. I must've walked right by you."

"Yeah."

"Well um-what are you doing? Are you going to Millie's wedding?" The brunette nodded. "Me too. I forgot you knew her."

"Yeah, we worked together all that time so. I love Millie, she's the sweetest."

"She is."

"How are you?"

"I'm good." Chloe lied.

"Good, I wrote to you but I never heard back but-"

"Yeah, yeah sorry about that I've just, you know, things have gotten kinda crazy. Like the holidays came up so work was busy."

"You still work for Hank?" Beca said, a little surprised.

"Yeah."

"Well I was going to grab some coffee if you...wanna..." The brunette trailed off and looked down at Chloe's book. "_Architecture Of Happiness_."

"Yeah it's-"

"That looks like a good book."

"It's uh-yep."

"I don't wanna bother you..."

"No, no, it's fine. I um, yeah let's get coffee." Chloe stood up. "After you."

xxx

After two hours, and several cups of coffee later, they finally arrived in San Pedro. The two said their goodbyes and went their own ways. Chloe changed into her dress and headed to the reception.

xxx

The redhead stood outside a modern white house that overlooked the ocean. Everybody was filing through the gate to take their seat. It was an outdoor wedding which was convenient as it was at least 63.7°F out.

"Chloe!" Beca shouted as she jogged towards the redhead.

"Hey."

"You look nice."

"Thanks, so do you."

The two sat next to each other throughout the wedding.

"Penis." The brunette whispered into Chloe's ear.

"No." Chloe giggled, shaking her head.

"I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The vicar announced. The crowd erupted into applause and cheers before heading to the after party.

xxx

"Okay, what else you got?" Beca asked, taking a sip of her champagne.

"Well...you snore."

"No I don't!"

"You do."

"I don't."

"Yeah."

"Well you do too."

"Shut up! No I do not." Chloe slapped the brunette's arm in a playful way.

"And your feet reek."

"That one time."

"No, every time." Beca explained between laughs.

"It was just that one time."

"No, that one time especially but every time and when you wake up your hair is like a giant ball of fur. It's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous, I can't help it." Chloe said with a pout. "Your favourite Beatle is Ringo."

Beca slapped the table. "Damn right."

"Well-"

"Ringo's the best."

xxx

Millie threw her bouquet of flowers behind her into the crowd of women. They all leapt forward but it landed right in Beca's hands. Chloe smiled at her and watched as all the women cheered and patted her on the back.

xxx

"1..2..3..." Beca shouted before they both downed a shot.

"Wanna dance?" Chloe asked.

"Okay."

Chloe took the brunette's hand and pulled her over to the dance floor. She entwined their fingers and placed her hand on Beca's hip before Beca placed hers on Chloe's shoulder.

"Hey I was wondering um, I was going to maybe have a party on Friday. My apartment has this cool rooftop garden if you want to come?" The brunette asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"If you're not busy that is."

"I don't think I will be." Chloe smiled.

xxx

The pair sat together on the train journey back too. It was around midnight when the train left the station. Beca soon fell asleep and Chloe was heading in the same direction. That was before the brunette let her head fall onto Chloe's shoulder.

xxx

Aubrey

"I guess I just got lucky. We met in elementary school in 7th grade we had the same class schedule and uh-we just clicked. Now I think technically the guy of my dreams would probably have a six-pack, maybe different hair, he'd probably be a little more into music but truthfully Benji's better than the guy of my dreams. He's real. "

Stacie

"Love? Shit, I don't know. As long as he's hot and he's willing, right? I'm flexible on the hot so..."

Hank

"Twenty-one years. She's the light that guides me home. Yes, that is from one of our cards. No, someone else did write it but that doesn't make it less true."

Chloe

"Uh..."

xxx

Chloe typed in the security code for Beca's apartment and the door buzzed open.

_Chloe walked to her apartment intoxicated by the promise of the evening. She believed that, this time, her expectations would align with reality. _

The redhead climbed the stairs and knocked on Beca's door.

"Hi."

"Hey." Beca replied with a kiss on Chloe's cheek. "You look nice."

"Thanks."

Chloe walked past the brunette and into the living room. She nodded at the small group of people who were sipping wine and conversing. They all greeted her with hey's or hello's.

"I uhm-got you something." Chloe handed Beca a small, brown, square package with a blue ribbon on it.

"That's so nice." The brunette slowly unwrapped the package to find a copy of _The Architecture Of Happiness _inside and hugged Chloe. "Thank you."

They walked up to the roof and sat down at the table. Beca introduced Chloe to everyone. All of her friends were really nice and the best part was that Beca took pride in the redhead. The night died down and everyone started to leave. The brunette pushed Chloe up against the wall and hungrily kissed her. Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's waist and pulled her impossibly closer...

_Of course, these were Chloe's expectations. What actually happened? Well..._

The redhead climbed the stairs and knocked on Beca's door.

"Hey," The brunette awkwardly pulled Chloe into a hug. "How are you?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Good."

Chloe walked past the brunette and into the living room. She nodded at the large group of people who were all too busy drinking and taking to each other to acknowledge her.

Chloe handed Beca a small, brown, square package with a blue ribbon on it.

The brunette slowly unwrapped the package to find a copy of _The Architecture Of Happiness _inside.

"You shouldn't have. That's so nice, thank you so much." Beca placed a firm hand on Chloe's shoulder and smiled.

"It's fine."

"I'm excited to read it."

Chloe followed Beca out onto the roof and sat down on a chair. The brunette had wondered off and started talking to a group of people.

"So, Chloe, what is it that you do?" Some man asked the redhead.

"I uh-I write greeting cards?"

"Chloe could be a really great architect if he wanted to be." Beca added, walking over to where they were sitting.

"That's unusual I mean what made you go from one to the other?" He questioned.

"I guess I just figured why make something disposable, like a building, when you could make something that lasts forever, like a greeting card." Chloe joked. The few people that were actually listening started to laugh. The brunette just smiled at her and walked away.

Chloe stood at the edge of the roof and looked out over downtown Los Angeles. She turned around to see Beca hugging a tall woman and introducing her to her friends.

_She didn't introduce me to her friends._ She thought to herself

Chloe made her way over to the drinks table and poured herself another vodka.

That's when it happened.

The redhead turned around to find Beca showing off a ring to someone. That's when it all became clear. Chloe dropped her drink and ran. She burst out of the apartment door and onto the street, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

**(440)**

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

The redhead slammed her hand down on her alarm clock.

**(441)**

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Chloe slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, again, knocking the empty Twinkie wrappers off the table.

**(441 1/2)**

Chloe placed her carton of orange juice on the counter, alongside a bottle of Whiskey and several Twinkies. Chloe raised her eyebrows at the cashier who looked back at her nervously, she was wearing still wearing her dressing gown and slippers. The redhead walked out of the store only to be greeted by the beautiful sight of a couple holding hands.

"Get a room, really." She shouted at them before pondering back to her apartment.

**(442)**

_Beep...Beep...Beep_

Chloe walked into work with her sunglasses on after successfully drinking a whole 750ml bottle of whiskey the night before.

"Shit, I've been calling you every five minutes, are you ok?" Aubrey exclaimed.

"I'm great."

"What happened to you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Chloe replied, carefully taking off her sunglasses and wincing at the sudden change of brightness.

"You always want to talk about it."

"Not this time."

"Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"It's Thursday."

Thursday meant meeting. Meeting meant boring. Boring meant thinking. Thinking meant Beca.

"This one says 'go for it'," A small, chubby lady said, pointing at a picture of a cat trying to catch a bird on the roof. She then pointed at another picture of a cat, only this time it was trying to reach a glass of milk that was on the table. "And this one says 'you can do it'. We have a whole line of inspirational photographic cards featuring my cat, Pickles. I think people will really enjoy them. Thank you."

"Good job Rhoda. That's some really inspirational stuff. Okay, who's next?" Silence filled the room. "We haven't heard from sympathy in a while. Beale?"

"Yeah?" Chloe said, snapping out of her daze.

"The winter collection? Have anything to contribute?"

"Uh, no...I really don't."

"Well okay. We'll come back to you. Um, Posen?"

"Actually, you know what?" The redhead interrupted.

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Can I just say something about the cat?"

"Well, okay."

"Yeah, this is and, Rhoda, no disrespect here but uh-this is total shit."

"Chloe." Aubrey hissed from across the table.

"'Go for it' and 'you can do it'? That's not inspirational, that's suicidal. If Pickles 'goes for it' right there then that's a dead cat. It's a lie. We're liars. Think about it. Why do people buy these things? It's not because they want to say how they feel, you buy cards because they can't say how they feel or they're afraid to. We provide the service that lets them off the hook. You know what? I say to _hell _with it. Let's level with America or at least let them speak for themselves, right? I mean look at this," Chloe stretched across the table to a pile of cards and picked them up. "_Congratulations on your new baby_, right? How about _congratulations on your new baby, guess that's it for hanging out, nice knowing you_-"

"Sit down, Beale." Hank said as softly as he could.

"How about this one with all the pretty hearts?" The redhead picked it up and showed it around. "Hold on a second, I think I know where this is going. Yep! _Happy Valentine's Day, sweetheart. I love you._ Isn't that sweet? Isn't love just amazing? This is exactly what I'm talking about, what does that even mean. Love. Do you know? Anybody?"

"Chloe." The blonde repeated.

"No, Aubrey. If somebody gave me this card, Mr Vance, I would eat it. It's these cards, the movies, the pop songs they are to blame for these lies and the heart ache, everything. We're responsible, I'm responsible, I think we...do a bad thing here. People should be able to say how they feel, how they really feel. Not some words that strangers put in their mouths, words like love. They don't mean anything." Chloe's voice was now at a whisper. "I'm sorry. I quit. There's enough bullshit in the world without my help."

Chloe walked down the stairs and out of the building, grabbing her bag and coat on the way there.


	6. Chapter 6

**(450)**

Chloe sat down on the bleacher in the park. She was watching Josh play football again although this time it was only a practice session. Since her outburst at work, she had become more focused on architecture and was now practicing her sketching.

"Hey, you're sketching again." Josh said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah well um, just doodling."

"Okay Chloe, I've got twenty seconds, talk to me, are you ok?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm good. Great actually. " Josh looked down at the redhead's sketchbook. She had started drawing a picture of woman, that strangely resembled Beca, holding a knife. Behind Beca was a redheaded female body surrounded by a pool of blood. Josh cocked an eyebrow as Chloe closed her sketchbook.

"You know, my friends are all in love with you." He said, motioning towards the group of boys who all waved at her. "It's like we said, there's plenty of other fish in the sea."

"Thanks but uh-those are Guppies."

"Yeah." Josh laughed. "Hey Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know you think that she was _the one _but I don't. I think you're just remembering the good stuff. Next time you look back, I really think you should look again." Josh patted her on the shoulder and ran back on the field.

_"It's playing at five." Chloe said._

_"Do you wanna see it?" _

_"Um, I don't know, we could just go back to you place..." _

_"No, I really want to see it, let's go." The brunette kept her eyes on the ground. _

_They sat in the movie theatre, watching some dumb film that Beca wanted to see. Chloe looked over at Beca who was in tears. The film finished and Chloe chased the brunette out of the exit. _

_"Are you ok?" _

_"Yeah." Beca replied, wiping the tears from her cheeks._

_"What is it, the movie?"_

_"Uh-it's um, it's nothing. I'm just being stupid." _

_"Yeah?"_

_"Yeah." The brunette said before walking away. _

_They ended up back in the record shop, flipping through the shelves. _

_"It pains me that we live in a world where nobody's heard of Spearman." Chloe stated._

_"I've never heard of them."_

_"I put them on that mix I made you...track one?"_

_"Oh, yeah." The redhead sighed before holding up Ringo Starr's "Stop And Smell The Roses" vinyl. Usually Beca would have said something witty or express her undying love for Ringo but she just smiled and walked towards the door. Chloe slipped her hand into Beca's but the brunette moved it away and pretended to scratch her arm. They headed out on to the street and started walking._

_"So what do you want to do?" Chloe asked._

_"I think I'm just going to call it a day." _

_"You don't want to get some dinner? You hungry?" Beca just looked at Chloe and averted her gaze to the floor. "Are you alright?" _

_"I'm just tired." _

_"Okay." Chloe leaned down for a kiss but the brunette moved slightly giving her the cheek. __"I got it. Pancakes?"_

**(456 - 476)**

Chloe was lying on the side of her bed, staring at the floor. _Unemployment sucks_, she thought to herself. The redhead sat up and moved over to her wall. When she'd first moved in, she'd decided that she wanted one of those chalk board walls were she could write all over it. That was when she wanted to be an architect, now all she used it for was writing down ideas for cards.

After eating breakfast and getting changed, she wiped the whole wall clean and grabbed her coat. She took the bus to the library and rented out 5 architecture books. Chloe spent her afternoon reading and jotting down notes in her sketchbook.

The redhead had applied for almost 13 different jobs at 17 different companies. Every time she was rejected, she would cross them off and prepare herself for the next. That was until she ran out of companies to cross off. Chloe decided to start over. She wiped her wall for the 4th time today and began drawing.

* * *

_Beca pulled her vail down over her face and as her best friend/bridesmaid Amy escorted her down the aisle. After the 'I do's' the brunette smiled and kissed her wife._

* * *

After a few hours of work, Chloe stood back and admired the landscape she had just drawn up on her wall.

**(488)**

Chloe sat down at her bench. She hadn't been there for a couple of weeks as the memories of Beca always came flooding back to her. The redhead sat there for a while, listening to the birds singing.

"Hey Chloe."

She turned around to find Beca walking towards her.

"Thought I might see you here. I've always loved this place ever since you brought me."

"So I guess I should be saying congratulations."

"Only if you mean it."

"Ah well, in that case..." Chloe joked.

"So are you ok?" Beca plopped down next to the redhead.

"I will be, eventually."

"I like your outfit." Chloe had just been to an interview and was wearing a short pencil skirt with a smart blouse and heels.

"Thanks."

"You look very sharp."

"So do you."

"Thanks."

"I quit the office." The redhead blurted out.

"You did?"

"Yep."

"I didn't know. That's great."

"And you um-you're married."

"Yeah, it's crazy."

"You should've told me." Chloe's voice was now a whisper.

"I know-"

"When you were at the wedding and we were dancing."

"She hadn't asked me yet."

"But she was in your life."

"Yeah."

"So why'd you dance with me?"

"Cus I wanted to."

"You just do what you want don't you." Chloe said, bringing a smirk to Beca's face.

_God, she's so sexy when she does that._

"You never wanted to be anyone's girlfriend but now you're somebody's wife."

"It surprised me too."

"I don't think I'll ever, ever understand that. I mean, it doesn't even make sense."

"It just happened."

"Right, but that's what I don't understand. What just happened?"

"I just-I just woke up one day and I knew."

"Knew what?"

"What I was never sure of with you." Beca replied. Chloe looked down at her feet and they sat in silence for a moment.

"You know what sucks? Realizing that everything you believe in is complete and utter bullshit. Sucks." The redhead wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Destiny and soul mates. True love and all that childhood fairytale nonsense."

"You were right. I should've listened to you."

"No." Beca said, smiling.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Chloe..."

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?" The redhead bit her lip to stop her from smiling.

"Well, you know, I guess it's because I was sitting in Deli and reading Of Mice And Men and a girl comes up to me and asks me about it, now she's my wife."

"Yeah...so?"

"So what if I'd have gone to the movies? What if I had gone somewhere else for lunch? What if I'd gotten there 10 minutes later? It was meant to be and I just kept thinking that Chloe was right." They both laughed together. "I did. It just wasn't me that you were right about."

Beca placed her hand on Chloe's. The redhead's eyes stung with unshed tears. Beca squeezed it.

"I should go." The brunette said, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "But I'm glad to see that you're doing well." She got up and began walking down the path.

"Beca." She turned around. "I really do hope that you're happy." Beca smiled and continued walking.

**(500)**

Chloe walked into a sky rise building in the middle of town.

_Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin and they end with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life. May 23rd was a Wednesday._

The redhead put her folder against the chair and sat down. She was having her 2nd interview this week and was hoping that this was the one. There was another woman waiting in the lobby too.

"Are you interviewing?" She asked.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Hm, my competition."

"It would appear."

"Yeah, a little awkward."

"Yep."

"Well I hope you don't get the job."

"Well I hope _you_ don't get the job." She threw back in a playful tone. They both laughed "Have I seen you before?"

"Me? I don't think so."

"Do you ever go to the bench in Angels Knoll?"

"Yeah, t-that's like my favourite spot in the city." Chloe exclaimed, leaning forward.

"It has a really good view, apart from the parking lots."

"I agree."

"I think I've seen you there."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I haven't seen you."

"Must not have been looking."

_If Chloe had learnt anything, it was that you can't inscribe cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence. That's all anything ever is. Nothing more than coincidence. _

"Chloe Beale?" A tall man asked, peering out from behind the door.

"Yeah." The redhead replied as she picked up her folder.

"Please, come through."

_Chloe had finally learnt there are no miracles, there's no such thing as fate. Nothing is meant to be. She knew, she was sure of it now. Chloe was-_

"Sorry, I just left uh-I need, one second." Chloe walked back over to the woman. "Hey."

"You again?" The woman joked.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if maybe after this if you'd want to get some coffee or something?"

"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting someone after this..."

"Oh, okay." Chloe flashed a smile and started walking back to the interview room.

"Sure."

"What's that?" Chloe questioned, jogging back.

"Why not?"

"Okay, well I'll just wait for you-"

"We'll figure it out."

"My name's Chloe." The redhead held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jess."

_**The End.**_

* * *

**I couldn't decide if I should stick with the films' ending but I couldn't really think of another. Also sorry about the whole "Jess" thing because I couldn't think of a name that rhymes with Beca. Thanks for reading! :)**


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